REVENU QUÉBEC - BILL, PLEASE!

Since February 1, bar and resto bar operators have been required to give their customers a bill generated using a sales-recording module.

Although the TV commercial from Revenu Québec informing the general public of mandatory billing may appear to be simple, it was actually quite complex to plan and execute. In the message, the camera gently swoops from a wine glass to a whisky glass, then from a champagne flute to a beer mug, before landing on a cocktail glass with a bill in it.

Conceived by Cossette, directed by François Lallier and produced by Nova Film, this campaign required very meticulous technical planning by Rodeo FX. In addition to staging the commercial, the Rodeo FX team developed a full previz in order to plan the complex motion-control shooting of the various elements. This previz work allowed for the camera data to be shared between Rodeo FX and the robot-camera. The lens info, camera movement, distances, and other invaluable data, were used by the artists at the compositing and color correction stage.

More than 80 takes were shot in order to gather the various elements required to assemble the commercial (glasses, reflections, light effect, atmosphere, smoke, shininess, etc.). The Rodeo FX artists then integrated these various elements to create photo-realistic and attractive images for each of the glasses. Once this work was completed, all that was left (!) was the stitching and color grading of these vignettes, in order to simulate a smooth and fluid camera move from one glass to the next.

The commercial campaign “Bill, Please!” is widely broadcasted in English and French media since billing in bars and resto bars became mandatory, on February 1st.